Long Live Innocence
by i-onlyswimfree
Summary: Gen. Because they would be rivals, even in death. Haruka knew Rin would make sure of it.


**long live innocence.**

He would be lying if he said that Rin hadn't changed. It was much too obvious to anyone who knew him before, when he hadn't moved away to some prestigious school, that Rin had undergone a huge change. It was unexpected, just like his arrival back into their lives, and Haruka had no idea what to think.

When they were younger, their competitiveness was harmless. It helped both Haruka and Rin better their swimming, Rin's taunts slipping easily down his back like the water he so lovingly and joyously dived into. He never said anything about it, but it was obvious that Haruka was always willing to prove Rin's statements about him being a bad swimmer or not as good as him wrong. But it was friendly. _Harmless_.

However, suddenly, Rin was leaving, and so was Nagisa, and then it would just be Haruka and Makoto again. Makoto had always been there for him, his presence comforting, but things would not be the same without there being two other bodies walking alongside them, diving into the water alongside them. They knew this without even mentioning it.

When he was challenged, like usual, before Rin left for Australia, Haruka thought nothing of it. It brought a pang in his heart to know that they could never compete like this again, never enter the water together, but he accepted. It would be a way to remember him, though Haruka was sure that they were keep in touch. Rin had never said otherwise, after all. So he had silently stripped all clothing, unwilling to fold them neatly as the water's call was too great, and waited for their coach to blow his whistle, signalling the start of the 'match'. The whistle blew, they dove into the blue depths, and Haruka won.

And Rin _changed_. He was upset, angered, and eventually stormed off. Haruka was taken aback, not expecting any of the harsh words thrown at him, surprised to note that their competition had made him so...hurt. He had never thought anything of it, had thought that it was only a way for them to become better, and really, Haruka didn't care for winning. He loved the water, loved to dive in it and float in it and swim in it and just_ be with it_. Swimming as part of a club, as part of a competition, that didn't matter to him at all. But it mattered to Rin, it mattered so _much_, and he had just now realized this.

Suddenly, it was hard to look at water the same way again. Suddenly, he didn't feel the same diving, the same competing.

So Haruka quit the team and, ever so faithful, Makoto did as well. The dark-haired boy couldn't completely give up the water, of course, even though he had initially tried to, so sitting in his bathtub every single day would just have to do. Makoto always ended up being the person to find him, to haul him out, to pass him a towel, and he never breathed a word or a question. Haruka was thankful for it, for he wouldn't speak up of that day even if he asked.

He hadn't expected things to change after that. Rin and even Nagisa were on his mind, that day playing over and over, with him all the while wondering if there had been something he could have done to change things. So Rin wouldn't have gotten angry. So Rin wouldn't have broken all contact with him. So Rin would have never been impacted so negatively.

Years afterward, however, the redhead came _back_, the memories crashing forth like a violent ocean tide, and Haruka was faced with the same helplessness. Rin had changed completely, for the worse, and there seemed to be absolutely no way to salvage things. He was deadset on some sort of revenge, on besting him, and nothing anyone said to him would make him think differently.

Haruka didn't want to give up on his friend, the one who had meant so much to him, but things were looking bleaker by the day, by every interaction they had, and he just _knew_ that the grinning man in front of him could not be Rin. It sounded cliché, dramatic even, but he knew it couldn't be. It just couldn't. The Rin he knew so well was hiding somewhere, out of sight, and was unwilling to be driven out.

Losing may not come easy to Haruka, but it seemed that losing hope did. It seeped out of his bones, out of every crevice, muscle, and pore until there was nothing left of it.

Because they would be rivals, even in death. Haruka knew Rin would make sure of it.

* * *

**A/N:** So, I have to admit that I don't really like Rin's character, but I am very interested in the Haruka-Rin dynamic. Not in a romantic sense (_I actually like Haruka/Makoto *nervous laughter*_), but in a platonic sense. Hence this little piece of mine, in which I kind of explore Haruka's thoughts and have things end up rather negatively.

I haven't watched _Free!_ in a while now, so there may be inconsistencies and whatnot, for which I apologize! Let me know if I wrote something stupid that doesn't make sense and I'll be sure to fix it. Please do review, favourite, or what say you, because I would really appreciate it! I'm definitely going to write more for this fandom, though I have only Haruka/Makoto and Haruka/Gou (and am thinking of writing a way too cliché "girls swimming club" story, but, _meh_) plot ideas in mind. But maybe I'll end up writing more gen? We'll see.

Thank you for reading, everyone!


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